Always There
by Child-of-the-Dawn
Summary: A little sad drama..then many humerous bits. What happens when Frodo is given Gandalf's old hat when Frodo still mourns his death at the hands of the Balrog?. NOT SLASH! no romance at all.


Takes place after Return of the King. A little nonsense fic.  
  
SPOILERS  
  
FOR  
  
RETURN  
  
OF  
  
THE  
  
KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
There, now no one can say they didn't get warned. ^_^  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Always There  
  
"Frodo...Mr. Frodo! Oh, please wake up!" Frodo Baggins rubbed  
  
his eyes. Around him sat many of the Eagles who were friends of  
  
Gandalf's. And before him was Sam, tears in the younger Hobbit's  
  
eyes.   
  
" Sam...where ARE we?"  
  
" Minath Tirath. We were rescued by the Eagles, remember? And  
  
Gollum bite your finger? You remember that? And then-"  
  
" SAM! Please, I'm getting a headache....I do remember though."  
  
Sam smiled wearily, then geastured to a group of people sitting in  
  
a room next to th bedroom Frodo found himself in. At first he had no  
  
idea who they were, until an Elven voice cried out suddenly.  
  
" You TOSSED Gimli?!" Gimli distinctly groaned.  
  
" I ASKED you not to tell the elf! Aragorn, have you no honor????"  
  
Frodo couldn't help but laugh when Arwen's sweet voice cut in.  
  
" Actually, I overheared you two talking about it......" Gimli made  
  
another groan.  
  
" Elf ears. Right." Swinging his still injured leg over the bed, and  
  
ignoring Sam's meek comments about 'letting himself heal', and  
  
walked into the room, relying on a cane that had been waiting for  
  
him to use. At once, all eyes fell on him.  
  
" Frodo!" Arwen quicky kneeled down beside Frodo, giving him  
  
a firece hug before stepping back to allow the others in. But Frodo  
  
only weakly smiled at the heartfelt sentiments of the others. It was  
  
Gimli and Legolas who first noticed why Frodo was upset. From  
  
a box, Legolas pulled out a battered trash bin with a ring of felt on  
  
it's edges. But before he could take out the rimed thing, Frodo was  
  
already holding it. In his hands..was Gandalf's hat. Tears came to his  
  
eyes suddenly, as he recalled the last moments in which he'd   
  
mentally said goodbye forever to the wizard...  
  
//flasback//  
  
The Balrog roared as it caught sight of the Wizard before it. Frodo  
  
nearly cried out in fear for him, so dwarfed was he by the beast of  
  
Fire and Shadow.  
  
" YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!" With both sword and staff, Gandalf  
  
threw his hands downwards. In seconds the bridge was crumbling  
  
into the chasym like a fireball descending upon Middle-Earth. A  
  
sense of relief flooded Frodo. Gandalf was still standing. But the  
  
feeling drained out of his, as one of the fire-whips curled around  
  
Gandalf's feet, tripping him. He was pulled to the edge, where his  
  
strength held up.   
  
" GANDAAALF!!!!!" He looked over them, the panic in his face  
  
quickly replaced by resignation. But when he looked upon Frodo,  
  
the expression softened tenfold. With his eyes, Frodo pleaded  
  
for him to hold on, but the familiar blue eyes held only a fierce will  
  
to fight to the end. But what frightened Frodo out of his wits was  
  
the grief in the old man's eyes. Grief, not for himself, but for the  
  
fact that he'd never be able to protect Frodo, and also, grief  
  
in knowing that Frodo would bear two burdens in his heart to  
  
carry.  
  
" Fly...you fools! Fly!" And then, he was gone.  
  
" GANDALF! GANDAAAALF!"  
  
//end of flashback//  
  
" Frodo...?" He blinked back the tears to see Aragorn and the  
  
others smling softly at him.  
  
" He wanted you to have this, but not for the reason you think."  
  
Frodo's brows drew together.  
  
" It's not a momento, child. It's for keeping the sea-water out of  
  
your face, as I know you'll want to come with me over the sea..."  
  
That voice.....calling him 'child' as if he still were one....  
  
" Gandalf..." The gentle smile of Gandalf's reached his sky blue   
  
eyes this time. Frodo dropped his cane, paid no heed to the pain  
  
in his legs, and ran at the wizard, hugging him around his middle  
  
( for that was how tall Frodo was). Tears poured down his face  
  
as he recalled the musky scent of travel and spice on the now  
  
white robes of Gandalf the Grey...no....thw White!  
  
" Gandalf...you...your...HERE! I wasen't imagining your voice on  
  
Mount. Doom!" Here the old man kneeled, allowing the hysteric  
  
Hobbit to hug him around the neck. He chuckled, pating the young  
  
ringbearer on the back.  
  
" Now now, be calm Frodo. And sit, yuor injuries are still quite  
  
bad.  
  
" But-"  
  
" Frodo..." Sam grinned at this, tears in his eyes at Frodo's very  
  
innocent character, which he feared gone for good. Trust Gandalf  
  
to be the only one to bring the real Frodo back. The others, too,  
  
were quite choked up, even Gimli, though he'd later furiously deny  
  
tears and laughter.  
  
" Rest now Frodo. For tommorow we shall pass to the Undying   
  
lands.." Sleepily, the hobbit curled up on the couch.  
  
" Mnph...tomorrow. Yes....always...tommorow..." A grin on thier  
  
faces, Merry and Pippin walked in.  
  
" Now THAT, Pip, is how a fairytale ends."  
  
" One question, where did Gandalf get a new hat? His old one  
  
got burned."  
  
" He took it from some actor, some old guy from' another world',  
  
as he put it. I think his name is Ian Mc..something."  
  
***********************  
  
And there is both my idea for a nice ending (a bit AU-ish) and what  
  
happened to the hat from the movies. The idea for the wastebin came  
  
from the fact that the crew of LotR:FotR put Gandalf's hat in a wastebin  
  
stuffed with newspaper or something of the like, which kept the hat  
  
crooked...LOL 


End file.
